Short Dress Gal
by Kristen Elizabeth
Summary: She should have known better than to think Warrick would be at all shocked by anything that happened behind anyone's closed doors. GSR, Spoilers through 8x04, The Case of the CrossDressing Carp


Disclaimer: Characters contained within do not belong to me.

Author's Notes: I'm sorry I missed my post-ep fic last week. But in all fairness, it was a less than fic-inspiring episode. Tonight's was…well, a lot better for sure! Enjoy!

And while I have you here, let me just express my whole-hearted thanks to everyone who voted for my fics in the recent awards. I've been writing for ten years, but this was the first time I've ever won anything for it. I am deeply grateful to the voters and the nominators, more than you can possibly know. Thank you again.

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Short Dress Gal

by Kristen Elizabeth

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_Know first who you are, then adorn yourself accordingly. – Euripides_

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"Sara?"

Swiveling her head away from the shop window, Sara glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Warrick come up behind her. "Hey," she greeted him, hoping her voice remained neutral.

"What are you doing here?"

'Here' could have meant a lot of things. Vegas. The Strip. The Forum shops. He could have even been questioning her very existence itself if he'd been at all prone to philosophical ponderings.

But she was almost one hundred percent sure he was talking about the sidewalk outside of Vera Wang.

"I was just…wrapping up a case and had some free time, so I came here for…um…cheesecake," she lied. Badly.

Warrick's eyebrow lifted. "I didn't know Vera Wang made cheesecake."

"From the Cheesecake Factory," Sara specified, pointing in the restaurant's general direction. "Grissom likes Dulce du Leche before bed."

She was hoping that the excess information about his boss's nocturnal routine might stop his questions, but she should have known better than to think Warrick would be at all shocked by anything that happened behind anyone's closed doors.

"You know…" he mused. "I had to break up with a girl once because she spent too much time with her nose pressed against these windows."

"My nose isn't pressed up against anything." Sara folded her arms. "I'm a woman, in case you'd forgotten. I'm allowed to look at pretty dresses without fear of persecution."

"Ah, but these aren't just any dresses are they?"

Her brow furred. "They're white dresses. What, are you prejudiced?"

"C'mon, Sara. Don't treat me like I'm your rookie." Warrick paused. "Has he asked?"

Sara swallowed heavily. "Has who asked what?"

"Maybe you asked him…" He pulled at his chin. "I can dig that. Very modern."

"Why am I not allowed to look at wedding dresses without you assuming that I…"

"Ah-ha! So you admit that you're looking at wedding dresses!"

She fixed him with the coolest she could muster while she was still in such a state of euphoria. "What if I am?" He blinked, and she took the opportunity to continue, "What would you say if I told you I got engaged today?"

He blinked. "Did you?"

"What would you say?"

"I'd say…" Warrick thought for a second. "Is he your best friend?" Before she could answer, he went on, "Because above everything else, he needs to be your friend. The person you can't wait to see at the end of the day. Take it from me." His smile was sad. "You can only have amazing sex so much before you realize that the person lying beside you wouldn't care if you had a bad day or not."

They were quiet for a moment as the tourists and shoppers streamed past them.

"I'm sorry about Tina," Sara murmured.

He shrugged his shoulders. "We all did crazy things after Nick got put in that box. Didn't we?"

"Crazy?" Her smile was wistful. "Not so much for me." She looked back at the window display.

"Are you going to wait two years to tell the team about this, too?" The twinkle in his eye kept his comment from sounding like a reprimand.

It was Sara's turn to shrug. "I don't know."

"Well. Your secret is safe with me. It'll be a nice change to know something before Greggo."

They stood in front of the window full of long, flounced skirts and heart-shaped necklines for a good while before Warrick spoke again. "You'd look great in these dresses, but they're not you, Sara."

"I was thinking the same thing right before you got here." She sighed. "I really can't see myself in any kind of wedding dress, though."

"Apparently Grissom can." Her face flushed pink. "Did he at least get down on one knee?" he asked.

"No." Sara rubbed at her hot cheek. "But he scraped a bee stinger out of my hand."

Warrick snorted softly. "He likes you. He really, really likes you."

"He's my best friend."

"Then…" He put his arm around Sara's shoulders and squeezed. "…on the big day…it won't matter what you wear."

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Fin

A/N: I realize that there is no Vera Wang showroom in the Forum shops. But really, shouldn't there be? Thanks for reading!


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